It seems like its been nearly 3 months since anyone has posted in this forum!

But I did think of something recently that prompted me to put the question out there.
Regarding the Thylacine sighting on mainland Australia.
There seems to be consistent sightings of the Thylacine in SE Australia. I also heard ( not sure if it was this forum ) that there are 'official documents' stating that some specimens were released before extinction onto the mainland by conservationists of the time? Is there any truth to this?

There was rumours about a conservation society in the early 1900's releasing specimens in the Wilson's Prom area, but I am unaware as yet as to any 'official' documents. But this background story would tie in with the wealth of data ARFRA has regarding sightings all over Victoria and mainland Australia. Loch Sport was supposedly 'active' for awhile, but the credibility of the witness has been brought into question.

I personally know of two eye-witnesses in Victoria, and they are educated people not prone to flights of fancy. The farmers down in Gippsland are also well aware of their existence.

There is ample room in remote Victoria alone for a sizeable, breeding colonies to remain undetected.....we know this because they do indeed survive to this day.

But invariably people will say 'unless you have a body and show it to the experts'.....well who are the bloody 'experts' and why are thousands of people seeing very strange creatures in the bush?

I’ve noticed Foxtel are doing a lot of promotion for a two part thylacine special on the Animal Planet channel. No on air dates yet. Saw some drone shots in the preview.

If drones with 4K cameras can be made to work in the bush without ending up stuck on top of a 30 metre high gumtree, then you’ll need a highly skilled pilot and lots of luck!
Drone are definitely best suited to open spaces… but is that where you’ll find thylacines or yowies?

Yesterday among the junk mail at the front gate was a 16 page catalogue from Micheals Camera Store in Melbourne. On the back page was an ad featuring 6 drones. They ranged in price from an affordable $149 for a 720p model with a 60 m range and 7 minute flight time, right up to massive $7799 for a Pro model with a 4K camera with 2km range and almost 20 minute flight time.

Watched a doco in the 90s about two elderly brothers that recorded howls in thick forest near their home in Tassie .The recordings were sent for analysis and they were found to match recordings from the supposed last tiger at Hobart Zoo in 1936.they have a distinctive howl that sounds like nothing else.It is rumored that the last tiger was shot on Tasmania in 1961 by a farmer.The sightings from there are still being reported .Most of the reports are of road crossings and I also remember one of the witnesses was a forestry ranger.At one time thylacines were plentiful on the mainland and there has been a few reports trickle in from Victoria.A woman recently posted a photo of an animal that had stripes down its back.Barring the extinct marsupial lion no other Aussie native animal of that size has stripes.

Interesting stuff, Lozza. Don't think there is much doubt that small pockets of these rare and elusive animals still exist both in Tassie and on the mainland. I have spoken with a group of forestry workers in Tassie a few years back. No one had any sightings. However, one guy reckoned his best mate had seen one and on that basis, he was a believer. Yeah, I know it's hearsay. Just sayin'...

By the way, the latest promos for the Foxtel two part program on the Tassie Tiger now say it has a 9.30 pm timeslot.

Wow - very interesting contributions!
So there seems to be a trend of sightings on the mainland.
The documents that I saw - I will have to dig them up or google search them are government docs that were released only in the past 10 years ( I think ) that show the transportation of these species to an undisclosed location in Victoria during the their final years of known existence. When I say document I am referring to a document seen on the net- not in my personal possession. Look this could be a fake document or a hoax but it seemed pretty legit.

I find it interesting that any type of animal conservation would be practiced in the 1920's onwards.... just seemed like folks back then did not have an understanding of the consequences of their actions etc.

The Animal Planet two-part special on the Tasmanian Tiger has been and gone. Unfortunately, the program contained little content of any real significance and did not live up to the heavy promotional hype. Probably the best part was the magnificent scenery around the picturesque lakes and mountains. With the Tasmanian wilderness filled with such great beauty, the producers had a head start.

To fill two hours, the program resorted to repetition far too much. For more impact, they would have been better off chasing up and featuring credible eye witness reports. Judging from all the dots on the sightings map, there would have been plenty!

More could have been made of the ‘government documents’ that was made out to be a cornerstone of this documentary. In a display of dismal editing, paragraphs were often flashed up on the screen in a timeframe that made it impossible for the viewer to read.

The three male co-hosts tried hard but did not have the necessary screen presence to give much credibility to their scripted dialogue. I don’t mean to be too critical here as in the best of Aussie traditions, they all ‘had a go’.

So if you missed it, don’t fret. I’m sure it will be repeated and you didn’t miss out on any sensational new developments. At least the production crew were out there in the bush with all their cameras. Who knows… maybe they could have got lucky. Just like in ‘Finding Bigfoot’, the Aussie team is still in full search mode.

For those around Gippsland way in Victoria, ARFRA (Australian Rare Fauna Research Association) will have a stall at the Wonthaggi show on Saturday the 9th of January where they hope to recieve more reports to add to the thousands already collected on the Mainland.

VicYowieResearch wrote:For those around Gippsland way in Victoria, ARFRA (Australian Rare Fauna Research Association) will have a stall at the Wonthaggi show on Saturday the 9th of January where they hope to recieve more reports to add to the thousands already collected on the Mainland.

Farmers do make up quite a number of sightings in the Gippsland area, though motorists driving along deserted roads in the early hours are also seeing them as well. Thyla's appear to like it a bit more open, scrub type surrounds and tend to prefer to stay away from thick forest.

Speaking to a farmer down Mirboo way a few years back he said that he and other farmers were perfectly well aware they are about, but as they do not present any threat to their livestock they ignore them...except for one poor animal that was shot by accident, the farmer panicked after hearing about the fine and destroyed the body. Bloody typical.

Farmers do make up quite a number of sightings in the Gippsland area, though motorists driving along deserted roads in the early hours are also seeing them as well. Thyla's appear to like it a bit more open, scrub type surrounds and tend to prefer to stay away from thick forest.

Speaking to a farmer down Mirboo way a few years back he said that he and other farmers were perfectly well aware they are about, but as they do not present any threat to their livestock they ignore them...except for one poor animal that was shot by accident, the farmer panicked after hearing about the fine and destroyed the body. Bloody typical.

More problem with crazy 'researchers' than thyla's I reckon.

VicYowieResearch, interesting that you mention Thylacines prefer a little more open ground. My brother owns a farm in York WA, some years back he stopped to open a gate on one of the open paddocks he had driven up to and some distance away he could see what looked to him like a large dog running along with a not very fast loping gate. Somewhat strange he said was that this dog had distinct diagonal stripes down its back. Now my brother is an absolute denier of anything to do with Thylacines, big cats, Yowies or anything else along those lines but he does admit that sighting had him puzzled. There have been reports of more than one sighting of the Tassie Tiger in the south-west particularly.

In more recent times many skeletal remains of the Thylacine have been unearthed in Western Australia places such as the Napier Range. A complete skeleton was found in the south-west in 1954 along with other specimens throughout that area. Older specimens have been at Murray Cove just some 40 km north of Perth. So maybe there's a possibility that these animals have found a way to survive in these remote areas.

VicYowieResearch, interesting that you mention Thylacines prefer a little more open ground. My brother owns a farm in York WA, some years back he stopped to open a gate on one of the open paddocks he had driven up to and some distance away he could see what looked to him like a large dog running along with a not very fast loping gate. Somewhat strange he said was that this dog had distinct diagonal stripes down its back. Now my brother is an absolute denier of anything to do with Thylacines, big cats, Yowies or anything else along those lines but he does admit that sighting had him puzzled. There have been reports of more than one sighting of the Tassie Tiger in the south-west particularly.

In more recent times many skeletal remains of the Thylacine have been unearthed in Western Australia places such as the Napier Range. A complete skeleton was found in the south-west in 1954 along with other specimens throughout that area. Older specimens have been at Murray Cove just some 40 km north of Perth. So maybe there's a possibility that these animals have found a way to survive in these remote areas.

I've personally held a plaster cast of a rear footprint taken in the 90's which is without a shadow of a doubt from a thylacine, and that was obtained within 200kms of Melbourne. A lot of Australians seem to be ignorant of how large Australia actually is, there is more than ample room for animals to remain hidden from sight of humans.

Folks, this is a five page article with some excellent references and photographs, including the mummified body of a thylacine, found at the bottom of a mine pit, supposedly within the last few decades....

Click through the five 'chapters' to the right under 'Article Index' to see them all. You can also view and download.

I believe they are out there. This is why I was so incredibly angry to read a story somewhere online, as related by a logger, where he said "Ha, it's common knowledge the Logging companies don't want a Thylacine to be found or that would mean the closing of what could be profitable logging areas, so they weren't disturbed. That's why before the actual logging takes place, they lay poison baits..."

Shazzoir wrote:Folks, this is a five page article with some excellent references and photographs, including the mummified body of a thylacine, found at the bottom of a mine pit, supposedly within the last few decades....

Click through the five 'chapters' to the right under 'Article Index' to see them all. You can also view and download.

I believe they are out there. This is why I was so incredibly angry to read a story somewhere online, as related by a logger, where he said "Ha, it's common knowledge the Logging companies don't want a Thylacine to be found or that would mean the closing of what could be profitable logging areas, so they weren't disturbed. That's why before the actual logging takes place, they lay poison baits..."

Shazzoir wrote:Folks, this is a five page article with some excellent references and photographs, including the mummified body of a thylacine, found at the bottom of a mine pit, supposedly within the last few decades....

Click through the five 'chapters' to the right under 'Article Index' to see them all. You can also view and download.

I believe they are out there. This is why I was so incredibly angry to read a story somewhere online, as related by a logger, where he said "Ha, it's common knowledge the Logging companies don't want a Thylacine to be found or that would mean the closing of what could be profitable logging areas, so they weren't disturbed. That's why before the actual logging takes place, they lay poison baits..."

Europeans established their first colonies in Tasmania in the early 1800s and introduced the first sheep in 1824. That instantly turned hungry native thylacines — dubbed "Tasmanian tigers" for the stripes on their back, or "Tasmanian wolves" — into the enemy. The animals were hunted so mercilessly that in 1863, the naturalist John Gould warned of their extinction. It took seven decades for his prediction to come true: the last known wild thylacine was shot in 1930, and the last captive thylacine died of neglect in Beaumaris Zoo, Hobart on September 7, 1936. (That animal is known as "Benjamin", though there's no evidence it was actually called that.) Just two months earlier, the thylacine had been granted full protection from hunting. (National Library of Australia)

It's amazing how many people are unaware of the true colour of Thylacines due to their point of reference being black and white photographs like the one above.

The animal itself is a creamy-white colour with the stripes. The skins that look dark are faded a lot.

That's why I can't help but say...on the latest footage from Adelaide or Victoria....it's a mangey fox...

The big give away should have been the Eastern Grey 'roo not even flinching, if it was a Thyla it would have panicked. Thyla's chased down 'roos in the hope that joeys would be ejected from the pouches thereby getting an easy meal.

Hi
I'm a little late in on this conversation.
I live in the mountains around Mirboo Nth in Gippsland Victoria.
I spend a lot of time roaming around in the bush in this area.
A couple of times I've seen striped butts disappearing into scrub as I've approached.
Qnce at first light I believe i had 1 cross the road in front of my car as i was on my way somewhere.
Speaking to old timers in the area, quite a few have thylacine stories.

Hey Slayer , this is off topic but you mention that you live in Mirboo Nth and spend a bit of time in the bush , just wondering if you come across any evidence of yowies , the reason I ask is I investigate not far from you with ( what I consider ) a bit of success . If you want to chat feel free to PM me
Cheers Greg

Totally not off topic really for me, my main interest being the Hairy Fellas. I was just browsing the forum and came across this thread and thought i would add my 2 cents worth. I'd be curious to hear about your
success because I mentioned the old timers and their Thyla stories....... Well Thylacines aint the only things they tell tales about. Gippsland ............ PM sent

ChrisV wrote:I find it interesting that any type of animal conservation would be practiced in the 1920's onwards.... just seemed like folks back then did not have an understanding of the consequences of their actions etc.

Much like the Cane Toad fiasco, it was usually done as a clumsy attempt to rectify an earlier error in judgement. I'm not sure it started as conservation originally but more as a misguided way of making Australia more like England. This article explains it better than I can, but all sorts of odd animals were brought to Australia for all sorts of reasons.

ChrisV wrote:I find it interesting that any type of animal conservation would be practiced in the 1920's onwards.... just seemed like folks back then did not have an understanding of the consequences of their actions etc.

Much like the Cane Toad fiasco, it was usually done as a clumsy attempt to rectify an earlier error in judgement. I'm not sure it started as conservation originally but more as a misguided way of making Australia more like England. This article explains it better than I can, but all sorts of odd animals were brought to Australia for all sorts of reasons.

Though it should be said there is absolutely no evidence of Thylacines being brought over by any society, and certainly no records remain of such despite much researching by many people. The Tiger population was known to be in distress before it's alleged extinction, but that did not stop people hunting the poor animal.